40 S&W Powders

Hello, this winter I am looking to improve my skill set as a handgun shooter. I am terrible at this and have always wanted to get better. I looked through my powder supply and didn't really find a powder well suited for the 40. I was using Blue Dot powder for my loads, and I was reading that it's better for the magnum cartridges. What would be your powder choice that shoots well and good for beginners?

I agree. W231/HP38 are both great for 40s&w. I have loaded a lot of rounds with W231. Now days all I use for my 40s&w loads for practice, and Compitition is Winchester WST. I LOVE WST. Oh did I tell you I LOVE WST. It's has a little softer recoil, and a lot cleaner than W231. WST is a ball powder like W231, and meters well also. I load 3.9gr under 180gr Berry's RSFP for winter IDPA matches, and 4.1gr under 180gr Berry's RSFP for summer. WST is a little reverse temp sensitive ( gains pressure in cold temps, and reduces presure in hot temps), but not bad.

The ol standbyes Unique and Bullseye are both great for .40. I prefer Bullseye personally, but be careful with it. It's extremely fast burning and .40 is a pretty high pressure round to begin with. Small errors can be magnified.

The .40 S&W cartridge has a naturally fast occurring pressure peak. For that reason I've always stayed away from fast burning powders. If you decide to duplicate factory velocity with 155 or 165 gr. bullets the faster burners won't safely allow you to do it. For 180s I wouldn't use anything faster than W231 or ZIP and I really wouldn't prefer either powder. I'd go AA#5 or slower.

bds recommended two very good choices with WSF and Autocomp. I'll recommend two more True Blue that is about the same burn rate as AA#5 but provides excellent accuracy. I've seen some reloading test where True Blue was the most accurate powder tested. The other choice would be Silhouette and it's in the same burn rate group with WSF and Autocomp. Before Ramshot started selling Silhouette it was introduced as Winchester Action Pistol, WAP, and is believed to be the powder Winchester used to develop the .40 S&W cartridge. If you ever decided to load self defense rounds Silhouette would be a great choice because it has a flash suppressant, one of the very few powders on the market that does.

The ol standbyes Unique and Bullseye are both great for .40. I prefer Bullseye personally, but be careful with it. It's extremely fast burning and .40 is a pretty high pressure round to begin with. Small errors can be magnified.

I do have some unique. I just couldn't find any data for it in my books. What is a load for the 180's? The only problem is that this powder is pretty old, it's made by hercules. I know powder stays good if you store it right for a long time. The recipies might have changed when hercules was sold to alliant.

I do have some unique. I just couldn't find any data for it in my books. What is a load for the 180's? The only problem is that this powder is pretty old, it's made by hercules. I know powder stays good if you store it right for a long time. The recipies might have changed when hercules was sold to alliant.

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According to Alliant, you should be good with your old Unique. The newer stuff they say burns a little cleaner, but other wise no change. I asked Alliant by email if I should be worried about differences between new and old 40 year stuff, and they said no. Sure enough it works the same IME. Just watch for acrid odd-smells....if it smells like smokeless powder it's good.

Unique works very well for me in both my .45's and my .40's....the powder is one of several good choices.

How many grains of unique? Alliant's guide online lists a 6.7 grain charge. But I don't think there is much reason to go near that, espically since these loads are just for practice. The reason I use 180 XTP's, is that it was a gift. So I'm gonna use them up, but I will still stick with 180's.

You mention being a beginner, I would under those circumstances use a powder than takes ups lot of space. This makes the possibility of double charges much less likely. Two powders I use are the before mentioned HS-6--good moderate range powder for 180gr. Good power loads can be worked up on Longshot. In all cases review the manuals. Inf can be accessed from the manufacturers on line. I also use long shot in the 10mm for hunting loads(nuf said)

I'm gonna plan on using unique until I run out. Gives me an excuse to purchase a different powder. Don't have too much left. After that though, it'll be a hard choice. It will probably come down to which powder the local gun shop has.

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